Process of freeing raw wool from its yolk and grease by electrical means.



PROCESS OF FEEEING RAW WOOL FROM ITS YOLK AND GREASE BY ELECTRICALMEANS.

. BAUDQTY APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1906.

. Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

IIEI

S E S s E N W W ATTORNEYS- 1n: NQRRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, :1 c4

uNiTEn STATES PATENT oFFicE.

JOSEPH MARIE BAUDOT, OF TOURCOING, FRANCE.

PROCESS OF FREEING RAW WOQL FROM ITS YOLK AND GRE A SE BY ELECTRICALMEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Application filed June 8, 1906. Serial No. 320,788.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrn MARIE BAU- DOT, a citizen of the Republic ofFrance, and residing in Tourcoing, Nord, France, engineer, have inventeda Process of Freeing Raw Wool from Its Yolk and Grease by ElectricalMeans, for which I have deposed a French patent, May 8, 1906, (not yetissued,) of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a process of freeing raw wool from itsyolk and grease by electrical means.

The description which follows is given with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a longitudinalsection through a part of the apparatus in accordance with theinvention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same and Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic side elevation of the apparatus as a whole.

The apparatus comprises preferably two cleansing vats A, A made of woodor other non-conducting material, and provided with perforated falsebottoms B carried by lateral supports 0 pivoted at the end of each vatand so arranged that the false bottoms B, the lower ends of which arecurved upward at b, slant downward into'the vats. The perforated bottomB constitutes the negative electrode of the apparatus, the positiveelectrode being formed by suitable plates D. These electrodes B and Dare connected to the poles of a source of electricity of low voltage andfurnishing an appropriate output.

At the opposite ends of the false bottom B, rollers E, E are mounted onthe supports 0, the roller E being driven through pinions 6. Theserollers carry an endless diaphragm cloth F of slightly porous textureprovided with transverse laths on which teeth f are mounted. By means ofthe latter the wool which is fed to the vat A, in any suitable manner(as for instance by means of the traveling band Gr, Fig. 3) is conveyedthrough the vat in contact with the false bottom B. In connection witheach vat is arranged a small intermediate vat H for the decantation ofsand and mud. These vats are divided into two compartments, one of whichis provided with a filter plate h. Compressor rollers I are suitablyarranged above the small vats H and the wool is led from the vats tothese compressor rolls by traveling aprons J arranged at the outlet fromthe inclined bottoms B. A second traveling apron K feeds the wool to thesucceeding vat. A

trough i is arranged below the rollers I for carrying the expressedliquid into the decantation vats H. Each of the latter is connectedthrough a pocket L to a rotary pump M which serves to return the liquidto the vats A, A Ports N, N arranged at the upper part of vat A and ofthe pocket L permit the escape of the suintins to and the drawing off ofthe same from the latter while the port 0 establishes communicationbetween the vat A and the pocket L at a lower level.

The vat A is provided with a cock P for drawing off the yolk waterscontaining the various otash salts. In the second vat A this 000i isreplaced by a Giffard injector. A drainage valve Q, permits of emptyingeach of the said vats A, A

In order to permit of cleaning the vats A, A a counter-weight device Ris provided to aid in lifting the whole of the immersed ortion of thesystem (as shown in broken 'nes in Fig. 1) which in the normalcondition, rests upon transverse supports fixed horizontally in the vat.

The apparatus constructed as above 0perates in the following manner :Thetwo vats A, A being filled with pure water, the wool in a raw state,that is to say charged and contaminated with soluble and insolublesubstances (salts and various fatty bodies) and numerous impurities, isdischarged at a rate appropriate to the operation of the system upon theapron G arranged at the head of the first yolk and grease removing vatA. It naturally falls into the space between the rollers E and theraised edge I) of the perforated bottom B which is immersed in the vatA. The wool tends to float on the surface of the water, but the teeth f,with which the endless cloth F is provided carry the wool down to thebottom B and force it along in contact with the latter to the outlet.When the wool has reached the upper end of the perforated bottom B, itleaves the conveyer teeth and falls by gravity on to the traveling apronJ which carries it to the compressor rollers I where it yields almostthe whole of the yolk waters absorbed in the vat A. The wool then fallsupon the apron K which discharges it at the head of a second vat A whichis identical with the vat A as regards its mechanical arrangement. Thewool circulates in this second vat in the same manner as in the vat A,and com letes its purification, giving up electrolytica ly in thissecond vat the last traces of yolk and suintin which it contained, afterwhich, on leaving the compressor rollers I, it falls into an appropriaterinsing vat. The liquid charged with yolk expressed from the woolbetween the compressor rollers I is dis charged through the trough ionto the per forated filter lates h which retain wisps of wool fiber Wich may have been carried there, and is collected in the bafflecompartment of the vats H and conveyed by the rotary pumps M into thepocket vats L.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the suction intake of the pumps M issituated at the upper part of the vats H and their discharge takes placein proximity to ports N formed at the upper parts of the vats A, Athrough which the suintins pass off. It will thus be seen that the woolcirculates in more or less thick layers and between the endlessdiaphragm cloth F and the perforated false bottom or inclined bottom Band that it is gently drawn by the series of feed bars f up to the apronJ arranged in advance of the presser rollers 1. During this movementthrough the vat the wool floats lightly in the liquid of the bath,finding itself in contact, on

the one hand, with the perforated false bot tom B which serves as anegative electrode, and on the other hand, with the endless diaphragmcloth F which separates it from the series of plates D (positiveelectrode) which lie in the liquid in the upper part of the vat.

The endless diaphragm F placed between the electrodes is a poorconductor by reason of its closely woven texture, and by reason of thefact that it is always somewhat impregnated with the greases from thewool. Consequently (1) it forms a resistance to the passage of theelectric current between the upper electrode and the lower electrode,the current being, so to speak, spread out and distributed uniformlyover the layer of wool which moves under the said diaphragm cloth, (2)it offers a certain resistance to the filtration of the chemical anodicsand cathodics produced by the wool. As the layer of raw wool is in closecontact with the diaphragm cloth from the t me of its introduction inthe electrolytic vat until it is discharged therefrom, and as it travelsin constant contact with the ne ative electrode (perforated falsebottom) all the electrolytic phenomena occur in the body of the layer ofraw wool and in direct contact with the diaphragm cloth. These phenomenaare the decomposition and separation of the alkaline from the neutralelectrolytes, viz. different potassium and sodium salts, etc. of thesuint from the greasy bodies or fatty acids of the suint, (suintin,cholesterin, lanolin,

'etc.); and then the new combinations between the saponifiable fattyacids (of the "suintin type) and the non-saponifiable fatty acids,(cholesterin, lanolin, etc), and the different salts, (potassium,sodium, etc.) It should be noted in this connection that while the woolis in weak contact with the anode (plates D) by reason of theintervening diaphragm cloth F, it is in direct sliding contact with thecathode (false bottom B). I

Without entering into a very long theoretical explanation it isnecessaryto pass on to the principal electro-mechanical and electrochemical effects produced by this electrolytic treatment and theconstruction adopted.

Electro-mecham'cal cflects.As the electric current which is establishedbetween the anode and the cathode follows'its best conductor, which inpractice is found to be the different salts of potassium and of sodiumand of suint obtained from the wool under treatment and the solutionswhich are formed thereby, none of the salts can escape its action duringthe travel of the wool through the bath. But as the salts of suint arein a state of combination with the greasy bodies and the fatty acids ofthe raw wool, naturally there is produced a disintegration of the saidbodies and fatty acids.

Electrwchem'iccl cflects.The greater these electro-mechanical effects ofdivision and disintegration, the more modifications in the nature andaction of the numerous fatty acids and greasy bodies are produced, asindicated by the appearance in the body of the wool itself of anemulsion of a soapy nature composed of the original sa onifiable bodies,(suintin), non-saponifiab e bodies, (cholesterin, etc), these lastundergoing an electro chemical transformation described later.

Another characteristic on which the system is based is this. Theelectrolytic freeing of raw wool from its suint under the theoreticaland practical conditions in which it is applied in the present systemrender immediately saponifiable those greasy portions of the suint whichare theoretically recognized as being non-saponifiable-cholesterin, lanolin, etc.and which may be electrolytically emulsified concurrently withthe suint which is a naturally saponifiable body. It is thus easy tounderstand that the present method of removing the fatty matters of thewool renders unnecessary the degreasing operation hitherto employedafter the desuinting process and thus presents a decided advance notonly in the speed of the cleansing operation but in the economy withwhich it is car ried out.

The process also permits of the recovery of certain valuableicy-products. During the process a double electrolytic decom osition ofthe soap formed takes place. Tie salts become distributed throughout theentire bath, while the fats (suintins), are momentarily divided into twoparts, one, the least abundant, rises in a semi-fatty state to thesurface of the bath, and the other is carried with the yolk waters withwhich the wool is saturated to the compressor rollers I. These removethe greater part of the yolk waters and the suintin. The waters chargedwith yolk salts and fatty substances, descend through the trough i intothe small baffie vat H passing through the filter plate 7L. Here theyare freed of the earthy substances and sand and are taken up at thesurface on the opposite side of the bafile partition and returned to thecompartment L. The suintins immediately rise to the surface and mayreadily be withdrawn through the outer port N at the same time as thefats which have entered the compartment L through the port N openinginto the vat A.

The yolk waters charged with the various potash salts of the wool beingof greater density, naturally return to the vat A through the lower door0, thereby enriching the bath, the density of which increases as freshquantities of wool are freed from their yolk. The suintins extractedfrom the vats A A only need to.be freed from their excess of moisture byevaporization in order to become utilizable and marketable. The yolkwaters which fill the vats A and A are drawn olf throu h the bottom ortP when they have reac ed a density of say about 10 or 12 B. These maythen be treated by any known industrial means for extracting theirpotash salts. The result of such a method of freeing raw wool from itsyolk and grease is that no chemical product is required, such as potashsalts, soda or soap. In the first place the vats A, A contain nothingbut water. As soon as the first charges of raw wool have beenintroduced, the water in the vat A very speedily attains the density of2 13., which is sufficient for regularly establishing the electrolyticsystem, the progress of which be comes increasingly accentuated inproportion as the density of the bath increases. As the second vat Aoriginally filled with pure water gradually becomes charged, but to amuch smaller extent, owing to the arrival and the passage of the woolsfrom which the saline waters have been completely expressed by the firstrollers I, waters at 4 or 6 are always available for recharging the vatA by means of a Giffard injector when the yolk waters at 10 and 12 B.are drawn off therefrom. The second vat A then receives pure water inorder to compensate for the small quantities of yolk water that it hassupplied to the first vat A. The operation of the apparatus proceeds inthis manner without further modification, but it should be noted that itis quite possible to accelerate the starting of the process if a smallreserve 1 of yolk water is available; it should further 1 be noted thatthis electrolytic method of removing yolk and grease only necessitates acomparatively low temperature, say from 25 to 30 C.

I claim as my invention:

1. The process of treating raw wool which consists in bringing the sameinto a suitable bath and there subjecting it to the electrolyticalaction of a current of comparatively low voltage to eliminate its suint,grease and yolk, substantially as described.

2. The process of treating raw wool which consists in bringing the sameinto a water bath and there subjecting it to the electrolytical actionof an electric current of low voltage to eliminate its suint, grease andyolk, substantially as described.

3. The process of treating raw wool which consists in bringing it into asuitable bath, and passing it through the same in contact with thecathode whereby said wool is sub jected to electrolytical action toeliminate its suint, grease, and yolk, substantially as described.

4. The process of treating raw Wool which consists in bringing the sameinto a suitable bath and passing it between an anode and a cathodeimmersed therein, and dispersing the electrical current flowing from theanode to the cathode by means of a substantially non-conductingdiaphragm interposed between said wool and the anode so that saidcurrent passes through all parts of the wool, substantially asdescribed.

5. The process of treating raw wool which consists in bringing it into asuitable bath, there subjecting it to electrolytical action to free itof its grease, suint and yolk, removing it from the bath and extractingthe adherent waters therefrom, and recovering the suintins from saidextracted water, substantially as described.

6. The process of treating raw wool which consists in bringing the sameinto a suitable bath and then subjecting it to electrolytical action tofree the natural salts of the wool and thereby increase the density ofthe bath, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The process of treating raw wool which consists in bringing the sameinto a suitable bath and there subjecting it to the electrolyticalaction of a current of comparatively low voltage so that the temperatureof said bath is maintained comparatively low, whereby said wool is freedof its suint, grease and yolk, substantially as described.

8. In the process of treating raw wool to free the same of its suint,grease and yolk, the subjection of the same to electrolytical action ina bath containing'the natural salts of the wool, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, inthepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH MARIE BAUDOT.

Witnesses:

ALFRED O. HARRISON, G. WATTING.

